Jackson eighth-graders attend elective course fair

Jackson Junior High School held an elective course fair for eighth-graders Tuesday to help them plan their schedules for next year -- but there is a little more to the event that students might not yet realize, according to the school's principal and counselors.

Missouri adopted new requirements in 2007 for all students who graduate from public high schools. Beginning with the class of 2010, the minimum number of credits needed to graduate changed from 22 to 24. The new standards put more emphasis on the core academic areas by requiring four credits in English and three credits each in math, science and social studies. The previous standards required one fewer credit in each of those areas. A requirement that students also take half-semester courses in personal finance and health were also put into place.

According to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the changes were a response to concerns of the state's business community and higher education about the lack of adequate preparation of high school graduates for either the work place or postsecondary education.

Those changes led to students' opportunities to take elective courses that could help them determine future career interests being whittled down, said Cory Crosnoe, principal of the junior high.

Students now only have the option of taking a few elective courses in high school, he said.

"When students view their schedule setup for the next year, they really begin to understand that," he said.

Right now the eighth-graders have about two weeks before they'll sit down with a guidance counselor and complete a first version of their four-year plan for high school.

Groups of students were taken to various locations throughout the school Tuesday where they listened to information from high school teachers and students on choices for elective courses in the areas of agriculture, family and consumer sciences and business and technology. There was also a session on how to participate in the A+ program, which pays tuition for students at community colleges in Missouri when they fulfill certain requirements in high school.

High school students in Future Farmers of America or those taking agriculture classes played a game of charades to demonstrate what careers could be related to the study of agriculture. They acted out careers like aviator and boat captain.

The games related to what high school agriculture teacher Laura Nothdurft later told them about agriculture careers.

"There are myths and misconceptions about what it takes to be involved in agriculture," she said. "There are many jobs where a study of it can lead to other types of careers."

She showed the students statistics that showed 17 percent of the workforce can be classified into the agriculture field.

"I know you probably aren't concerned about it now, but there will be jobs in agriculture when you get ready to look for one," she said.

Sara Pylate was a high school counselor until last year when she transferred to the junior high.

Trying to have students choose electives that relate to a career choice is an important reason to have the fair, she said. Each year the junior high students are becoming more informed about the hows and whys of choosing electives, she said.

"Truth is, there are so many requirements now, that it has to help them to have some kind of idea earlier about what they are going to do, if they are going to get any idea in high school of what that career would actually be like," she said.

And if students haven't yet decided what career to choose?

"They have to know now that they have to take the ones that help them figure out what they want to do," she said.

eragan@semissourian.com

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1651 West Independence Street Jackson, MO